Although the rock art has almost completely weathered away, the Murro‐lung‐gulung Aboriginal rock art shelter was regarded as one of the most sacred and significant sites of the Burragorang Valley. It was noted by Dr Jim Smith as being one of the few art sites in south‐east Australia which has a known Creation story associated with it.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Gundungurra people told visitors that the images of hands in two Burragorang Valley art sites, the ‘Kamilaroi Point’ shelter they called Murro‐lung‐gulung and the Hands on the Rock shelter, were not made by people but by their Creation ancestors, the Burringilling, in the far distant past, the Gunyunggalung. Warragamba 116 (previously referred to as the Kerswell Hill art site) has a likely image of one of these Burringilling.
Dr Jim Smith
William Russell, a Gundungurra Elder or Chief man, described in his memoirs the site (it’s the only art site which he refers to) which was located on a large Burragorang Valley land holding owned by Luke Gorman:
Luke Gorman, who was John Gorman’s father lived at Upper Burragorang at a place called “Murrolung-gulung,” which means that a Hand was stamped on a rock cave at this place. I never knew what was the meaning of the hands on the rocks, but old natives said that they were very, very old indeed, they were in some way connected with the Bulan‐Aboriginal God.
Willian Russell
Burringilling and Bulan represent two distinct aspects of the creation ancestors during the Dreaming in Gundungurra mythology:
- Burringilling: primordial animal-people, which included well-known figures like Gurangatch (the rainbow serpent) and Mirragañ (the quoll). Through their actions, conflicts, and travels, they carved out geographic features like the Wollondilly River and Wombeyan Caves before being transformed into the physical animals we see today.
- Bulan (or Bulans): The supreme creator spirits or god-like ancestors; the Gundungurra traditional beliefs held that humans were originally created by two brothers known as the Bulans. They were responsible for shaping the fundamental landscape, creating the people, and orchestrating the transformation of the Burringilling animal-men into present-day wildlife.
| Burringilling | Bulan (Bulans) | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Primordial animal-human spirits who shaped topography through actions/battles | High creator spirits/brothers who designed the world and created humans |
| Form | Hybrids with animal and human traits (e.g., quoll-man, fish-serpent) | Spirit ancestors often personified as a pair of divine brothers |
| Fate | Transformed into the modern-day animals of Gundungurra country | Maintained as an overarching sacred spiritual force/god figures |
As well as the hand print, the Murro‐lung‐gulung Shelter was documented as having a very unusual drawing of a waratah:
When Peck visited the cave, at some time between 1918 and 1925, he claimed that there was another image in this cave, “a faint drawing of a Waratah flower”. The ‘legend’ published by Peck explains the origin of both the hand print and the Waratah drawing. It also details how one of the Burringilling prepared the surface for the image by scraping it with a basalt rock and how the rock shelter, originally on the clifftop, was dislodged by an earthquake and rolled into its present position. About half the people who have been taken to this shelter in the company of the Rileys claim that they can see remnants of the Waratah image. As far as I know, this is the only known rock art image of a Waratah in the Sydney region.
The site was also documented as having a foot stencil.
The site also has a number of stone artefacts.
More information
- William R Russell (1835-1914) – My recollections [PDF]
- Dr Jim Smith – Warragamba Dam Raising number SS1‐8441 [PDF]
- Knox and Stockton (ed) – Aboriginal Heritage of the Blue Mountains – Rock Art of the Burragorang Valley
- R.H. Mathews – Some mythology and folklore of the Gundungurra tribe [PDF]
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